I've enjoyed this newest round of studio pics, and will try to post some of my own soon.

Lena snapped some images of me and David Tollefson doing some Viridian Sun studio work this weekend, so maybe I'll post some of those in both this "Studio Shots" topic and in the Viridian Sun discussion in the "Hypnos CDs and Artists" section.

As a non-musician, I have to say that when I look at all those gizmos (and I've visited a few artists in their homes too, e.g. Kevin Kendle, John Flomer, James Asher), I am in awe that you guys and gals can keep it all straight. I had to laugh when Kevin Kendle said to me "Oh, it's not that hard to learn to use these things." :o :o :o Yeah, right! I consider myself a bright person and am the local go-to guy here at my program at Hamline University for computer issues by staff and faculty and even students (I give training seminars on PowerPoint, advanced Word, etc), but I take one look at all that....STUFF...all those dials, switches, read-outs...and I just glaze over. It does not compute. So, FWIW, my hat's off to ALL of you ambient and EM wizards. I don't know how you do it. IMO, cooking a meal or writing is child's play but when it comes to making music using THOSE, well, I wouldn't even try it on a bet.

There's some truth to what you're saying, Bill. Most of the people you'll talk to who have a studio full of gadgets like that, tend to be computer programmers, engineers, IT managers, and other tech-savvy types, which might explain why they (we) seem to think it's no big deal to understand how to interface with dozens of different machines.

Having said that, it's not quite as intimidating as it may seem to you, looking at 30 or 40 unfamiliar gadgets, when you're the individual who has bought them, one at a time, months apart, and learned each one individually. If I had obtained every item in my studio all at once, it might have been overwhelming, but since I've obtained maybe 3-5 new pieces per year, it's been pretty gradual.

Here are some quick & candid pics of the Viridian Sun sessions from Saturday. I'll annotate these a little bit later.

(http://www.hypnos.com/forumpix/viridiansun1-.jpg)First pic (these are posted out of the order they happened)... I'm playing bass front and center, Dave is playing guitar with mallets. I'm actually sitting in front of the main computer (Mac Pro) in the center of the studio and Dave is over to one side. None of the pics show the other half of the studio, which is more set up for graphics stuff anyway. You can't see much else in the studio at all, actually, but that's Lena's cello behind Dave, and there's a microphone stand and a mostly-empty gear rack back there too.

(http://www.hypnos.com/forumpix/viridiansun2-.jpg)Slightly out of focus shot of Dave, taken from the studio doorway. You can see my Nord Modular (not used in these sessions) in the foreground. I think we're actually playing and tape is rolling at this point, even though Dave's not touching the guitar. He has some loops running and he's just tweaking settings. In the background you can see most of the keyboard & synth part of the studio. On the left is my Yamaha 01/V mixer mounted almost vertically, then a 3-tier keyboard stand with a Kawai K5000S on top, then a Korg Triton, and a Roland D-50. The two racks in front of the keyboard stand include a bunch of rack-mount synths in the one on the left (Waldorf Microwave XT, Roland JV2080, Korg O3R/W, Yamaha TG77, and the one on the right is a pre-amp & FX rig for recording guitar and bass, with a Joe Meek pre-amp/compressor/EQ, and effects including a TC Electronics M2000, a Digitech Studio Quad that I just use for weird, noisy modulation effects, a Behringer Ultrafex reverb, and a couple of Electrix filter effects.

(http://www.hypnos.com/forumpix/viridiansun3-.jpg)This third pic shows more of the computer setup. The computer (out of frame) is a Mac Pro quad Intel processor with a bunch of RAM and a bunch of hard drives. The monitor is an Apple 30" HD cinema display. There are Mackie 824 monitors on the desk, though at present the right monitor is raised up on top of a small rack that holds a patch bay, an Alesis Masterlink, a Lexicon PCM91 reverb, and an Avalon 747 analog compressor/EQ. There's a black Steinberger electric guitar leaning up against the desk, mostly covered by a white Steinberger bass.

(http://www.hypnos.com/forumpix/viridiansun4-.jpg)I'm not sure if we're actually playing here, or just talking about "what next?" in between tracks. But you can see Dave's setup a bit more clearly (I don't know the names of all the pedals), and you can see my Yamaha S80 weighted piano/synth up against the wall, with a little lamp on top of it.

(http://www.hypnos.com/forumpix/viridiansun5-.jpg)Here we're playing. I'm wailing on the bass to such a degree that I'm about to tip over backward in my chair! You can see Ableton Live on the screen but it's a very simple setup, just two audio tracks, each with a stereo pair from the MOTU 828 interface (on the shelf below the monitor), one pair from my bass & FX and one from Dave and his guitar & FX.

(http://www.hypnos.com/forumpix/viridiansun6-.jpg)Not much is visible here that's not visible in the other pics... except the back of the sheet music stand I guess.

(http://www.hypnos.com/forumpix/viridiansun7-.jpg)Here's another on the "scene" from the first picture, except Dave has picked up the guitar, and I'm looking at the screen with a concerned expression. The small rack with the patchbay, the Lexicon PCM91, the Masterlink and the Avalon is more visible here and on the shelf below that you can see the MOTU 828 and the rarely-used Tascam DAT deck.

I think Mike brings up a great point about learning vs timing vs quantity.

My studio and my studio "life" as such are divided into two distinct areas,

On the recording side I have a pretty hard and fast rule that If there is a piece of equipment that I have not used in six months or so, I usually sell it. It makes no sense to have a studio full of stuff that sits there and does nothing while we tend to gravitate toward certain pieces over and over.

Only once have I sold a piece I regretted, I spend much more time wondering..."Do I really need this and could that money be better used elsewhere?"

I have also mapped out what I want / need for my studio to run efficiently and professionally without need or excuses, but with out gratuity.

For instance, my design was to have 16 channels of high end mic pre, an A-D/D-A system to handle tracking that at once and then sufficient, quality outboard EQ's and Compressors for a hybrid "out of the box" mix down.

I am about 5 pieces away of accomplishing said goal...

Keyboard wise I have also adopted this approach slightly, I have slimmed my keyboard rig down to 5 (not counting my Rhodes) and even that may get chopped down to 4 soon (bye bye V-Synth).

It just seemed irresponsible in a way to have a mountain of synths most of which I had barley scratched the surface of their true potential. So I decided to focus on ringing out the most of what I could from fewer synths instead of having one synth which I only played a patch or two. Plus like a guitarist will "fall in love with, or at least respect in the morning" a particular instrument, I wanted a few synths I could look at as instruments in and of themselves, vs a commodity of sound sources.

Plus with soft synths being so good, the uniqueness of most digital instruments has diminished in my eyes, unless it is for some aspect like the time stretching and control of the V-synth or the architecture of some of the Waldorf pieces.

Anyway, I know that for many gear hounds and synth enthusiasts this is pure heresy...

Not that I have any interest whatsoever ::) in ever recording music, but just out of curiosity, if one wanted to record non-rhythmic ambient music (i.e. no drum programming machines needed), what would be the minimum one would need to spend to a) compose and play it b) record and mix it c) make high quality CD-Rs of it. Again, this is not meant as a veiled statement by me, since 1) I have no talent and, 2) I have no money. I'm just curious about the cost of all that gear. It LOOKS like a minimum set-up has to run well into the six figures...is that close? Do any of you have a limit on what you would spend on any one piece of gear?

I'm just really curious, folks, that's all. I'm pretty meager, income-wise, working in higher ed (as staff, not faculty) and I'm kinda cheap, to be honest. I blanche at spending more than 12 bucks for a bottle of wine, a dinner out that costs more then 80 bucks better be spectacular, and I go to matinees or second run movies whenever possible. So, the prospect of spending what looks like mega bucks on all that gear (and, knowing how small the market is for ambient music and how "well" it sells) :( well, to be blunt, how do you justify it? Not meaning that at all for it be critical or shaming or anything like that...maybe I'm just too pragmatic when it comes to money. I don't know. Anyway, I sincerely and truly hope no one here takes offense at my asking. Honestly, when I hear the music you all make, well, I'm glad you invest in the gear obviously. The music kicks ass. But man, I understand Dwight's statement. I think if I ever returned to printing a magazine in hard copy, Kathryn would change the locks and leave my all of my shit on the sidewalk with a terse note! ;D

Not that I have any interest whatsoever ::) in ever recording music, but just out of curiosity, if one wanted to record non-rhythmic ambient music (i.e. no drum programming machines needed), what would be the minimum one would need to spend to a) compose and play it b) record and mix it c) make high quality CD-Rs of it. Again, this is not meant as a veiled statement by me, since 1) I have no talent and, 2) I have no money. I'm just curious about the cost of all that gear. It LOOKS like a minimum set-up has to run well into the six figures...is that close? Do any of you have a limit on what you would spend on any one piece of gear?

Okay, do I want to admit this?Sure. Here we go...(full disclosure). Since 99-2007 I have put 63K into my project studio. From 90-98 I shared a commercial studio with Tim Story and another guy. We put a lot $$ into that studio.It's still around but it's hard to get in. It's always booked...

In the early 80's I lost a studio to a lighting strike.The whole thing burnt to the ground. Ouch!!

As a qualification, the only thing I have sold out my purchases is an OB 12 (original), Roland D50 and a Moog Source.

...But man, I understand Dwight's statement. I think if I ever returned to printing a magazine in hard copy, Kathryn would change the locks and leave my all of my shit on the sidewalk with a terse note! ;D

That's good one Bill. I can visualize that happing to me under the right circumstances.

Hi Bill.Hey, I don't even have a job !:)On the music front ... with the advent of powerful computers, excellent analog to digital converter boxes/cards, and clean signal paths, you could setup a studio in a laptop/desktop using only software instruments or samples, and a pair of headphones. And you could do that with free software. So the expense could be very low. Maybe a small midi keyboard to play the soft-synths.

That sort of setup is not what you see in the pictures above, but it is workable and inexpensive.

Heck, Biosphere does "live" concerts with just a laptop and small midi keyboard.

Hardware gear is another fascination. But most digital hardware is just a program burned to a big chip with a physical interface of knobs and stuff added on. Not really different from a software program on your computer. But software doesn't have the tactile appeal, or the dedicated and unproblematic use.

I use more software synths and effects than I do hardware ones. Software is convenient and powerful. It is cheap to add 'knobs' for every parameter to software.

Of course, getting usable, cheap software for music production is no guarantee that a person will produce music worth listening to.

It is relatively easy to string together pre-configured samples, but its another game to play and compose like a musician.

Cool gear, guys. Bill, there isn’t really any minimum amount necessary for creating your own beatless ambient music. You could probably even make do with just a computer, a keyboard controller, some software-based synths and software to record your performances. (But you might also get what you pay for!) I’m not really a gearhead myself, but I can certainly understand the appeal. Instead of having a collection of vintage Fords in your garage, you might be saving up the cash for that long-lost vintage Moog Mark V, or maybe the latest and greatest new Doepfler module. That said, I did recently picked up a used Wavestation A/D from Loren, and have been enjoying the hell out of it.

Not that I have any interest whatsoever ::) in ever recording music, but just out of curiosity, if one wanted to record non-rhythmic ambient music (i.e. no drum programming machines needed), what would be the minimum one would need to spend to a) compose and play it b) record and mix it c) make high quality CD-Rs of it.

Their is no real answer to this as their are so many ways one can make this type of music. It depends on the way you want to work and what you want to achieve. You could spend only a few hundred bucks and make some music. Or, like most of us here go crazy and buy tons of gear just because we like too. :P ;D

So, the prospect of spending what looks like mega bucks on all that gear (and, knowing how small the market is for ambient music and how "well" it sells) :( well, to be blunt, how do you justify it?

I don't think making this kind of music you can justify the costs, you do it because you have to. But again, these days you can spend very little and still make something decent. In the end its not really the tools that make the music but the person and how he/she uses them. Like building a house, you don't need a lot of the tools they use today to make houses, people have been making houses for thousands of years with very basic tools.

BTW I will contribute with photos of my studio later, I just finished moving my studio to a different room and am in the process of fixing some minor problems. Probably post something in a day or two.

I didn't realize what a great looking guy you were:)....hmmm..when do we get to see shots of Lena now doing her thing???? hmmmm:)...

I will probably post mine soon but considering my studio is very very simple and laid out simple enough....I am one of those that do everything, most everything through the computer, etc....only thing I use is my keyboard....

I'm kinda cheap, to be honest. I blanche at spending more than 12 bucks for a bottle of wine, a dinner out that costs more then 80 bucks better be spectacular, and I go to matinees or second run movies whenever possible.

Yep, its a nice little working system, everything in reach where I need it.That synth is a korg MS2000 keyboard version -- it came withthose old-school hardwood ends.

I thought I recognized that thing, and was pretty sure it was a modern mini-synth with retro-style wood end caps. In fact, I almost bought an MS2000 keyboard once, and always thought it was a good-sounding and fun-to-twiddle synth for the money.

I didn't realize what a great looking guy you were:)....hmmm..when do we get to see shots of Lena now doing her thing???? hmmmm:)...

I will probably post mine soon but considering my studio is very very simple and laid out simple enough....I am one of those that do everything, most everything through the computer, etc....only thing I use is my keyboard....

Lena can't do her thing with anyone watching. Oh, you mean her music thing! Well, I think Lena's shy enough about recording music without having me photograph her while she's playing. Maybe some day.

As for me, I'd have to be a "great looking guy" to win the heart of a red hot sexpot like Lena, wouldn't I? ;)

I didn't realize what a great looking guy you were:)....hmmm..when do we get to see shots of Lena now doing her thing???? hmmmm:)...

I will probably post mine soon but considering my studio is very very simple and laid out simple enough....I am one of those that do everything, most everything through the computer, etc....only thing I use is my keyboard....

Lena can't do her thing with anyone watching. Oh, you mean her music thing! Well, I think Lena's shy enough about recording music without having me photograph her while she's playing. Maybe some day.

As for me, I'd have to be a "great looking guy" to win the heart of a red hot sexpot like Lena, wouldn't I? ;)

It's nice to meet someone who isn't afraid to admit his wife is so attractive...seriously, Mike, I applaud you 8). So many men push the "jealousy" button so easily that one doesn't know if one can tell a guy that his wife is good looking without the guy kicking his ass.

Although, I have to say, you two seem way too well-adjusted to be ambient music artists! Where are your insecurities, foibles and idiosyncracies! ;D

As a non-musician, I have to say that when I look at all those gizmos (and I've visited a few artists in their homes too, e.g. Kevin Kendle, John Flomer, James Asher), I am in awe that you guys and gals can keep it all straight. I had to laugh when Kevin Kendle said to me "Oh, it's not that hard to learn to use these things." :o :o :o Yeah, right! I consider myself a bright person and am the local go-to guy here at my program at Hamline University for computer issues by staff and faculty and even students (I give training seminars on PowerPoint, advanced Word, etc), but I take one look at all that....STUFF...all those dials, switches, read-outs...and I just glaze over. It does not compute. So, FWIW, my hat's off to ALL of you ambient and EM wizards. I don't know how you do it. IMO, cooking a meal or writing is child's play but when it comes to making music using THOSE, well, I wouldn't even try it on a bet.

I think Mike brings up a great point about learning vs timing vs quantity.

My studio and my studio "life" as such are divided into two distinct areas,

On the recording side I have a pretty hard and fast rule that If there is a piece of equipment that I have not used in six months or so, I usually sell it. It makes no sense to have a studio full of stuff that sits there and does nothing while we tend to gravitate toward certain pieces over and over.

Only once have I sold a piece I regretted, I spend much more time wondering..."Do I really need this and could that money be better used elsewhere?"

...

Anyway, I know that for many gear hounds and synth enthusiasts this is pure heresy...

Paul, I think you're right that many gear hounds and collectors are much better at acquiring new equipment than at selling it or getting rid of it. But I think your approach is sane and practical, and I'm trying to figure out how to get there myself. I made some efforts a year or two ago to get rid of maybe 10 pieces of gear that I wasn't using at all. I still have some redundant or (for me) obsolete gear that I think I'll try to sell soon. Maybe after the new year I'll make a little list and put it up here.

Lately, though, I'm moving the opposite direction, having purchased two pieces of gear in the last few months from people selling it here on the Forum!

I have a question about how some of you (you know who you are) who have lots of music gear, especially lots of synths and samples, cope with patching everything. Do you:

1. Use multiple patchbays to keep everything plugged-in all the time (into patchbays, I mean) and only selectively patch the stuff into your mixer or audio interface?

2. Leave only the most-used stuff plugged straight into the mixer all the time, and when setting up a less-commonly-used piece, temporarily plug it in, maybe unplugging something else to make room?

3. Utilize LOTS of mixer inputs or audio interface inputs, to leave everything plugged into its own input, all the time?

I've done all of the above at various times, and probably am somewhere between #1 and #2 right now, not really fully committed to either approach. I have 3 full-size patch bays but I'm using less than 1/3 of the patch inputs, and I have some synths plugged straight into my mixer and others not plugged into anything at all. It seems like a lame approach, but in my own defense, I'm actually only getting active in the studio again fairly recently.

So, I'd like to get a bit more organized and structured approach but I'm actually not quite sure how I want to do it... leaning toward #1.

As for me, I'd have to be a "great looking guy" to win the heart of a red hot sexpot like Lena, wouldn't I? ;)

It's nice to meet someone who isn't afraid to admit his wife is so attractive...seriously, Mike, I applaud you 8). So many men push the "jealousy" button so easily that one doesn't know if one can tell a guy that his wife is good looking without the guy kicking his ass.

Although, I have to say, you two seem way too well-adjusted to be ambient music artists! Where are your insecurities, foibles and idiosyncracies! ;D

Well, I was kidding a bit, and you're kidding a bit, but I'll say I agree with you that it's just crazy for a man who has an attractive wife or girlfriend (or for that matter, a woman who has an attractive husband or boyfriend) to be jealous and suspicious, or to get angry at other people for looking at their partner. It's just completely irrational, and demonstrates the terrible insecurity of the jealous party.

I patch everything into patchbays so I can easily route them in and out of each other and into the audio interface. Stuff not connected this way tends not to get used because its then too much trouble to set up. I don't use a mixer. Only patchbays.

When I was using a mixer I mainly did #1, I use to use four patchbays to connect everything to route everywhere. But now that I have given up using the mixer I use #3 with about 8 inputs on my soundcard that are not connected to anything patched into a patchbay in case someone brings something over to record. So now I have no mixer and only use 1 patchbay.

I don't use 1, 2 or 3 ;D, mainly because I don't have a lot of equipment and connecting things up does not take a lot of time. I may look into patchbays at some point, but currently I am only working on one sound chain at a time.

I am considering how to do some live music so will have to get a mixer at some point.

I didn't realize what a great looking guy you were:)....hmmm..when do we get to see shots of Lena now doing her thing???? hmmmm:)...

I will probably post mine soon but considering my studio is very very simple and laid out simple enough....I am one of those that do everything, most everything through the computer, etc....only thing I use is my keyboard....

Lena can't do her thing with anyone watching. Oh, you mean her music thing! Well, I think Lena's shy enough about recording music without having me photograph her while she's playing. Maybe some day.

As for me, I'd have to be a "great looking guy" to win the heart of a red hot sexpot like Lena, wouldn't I? ;)

Speaking of e-bows, I was surprised to see The Edge (from U2) using an e-bow on the Live in Paris video from 1987 on I think it was "The Unforgettable Fire". I didn't know the e-bow had been used that much for that long. - Jesse

Anyway, the point is it doesn't take talent or a lot of money, just a lot of reverb. Take me for example... I just alike all the blinky lights and pretend I'm Cap'n Kirk half the time.

Uh-uh, Jesse,

No WAY are you going to get away with insinuating that you have no talent! You are one of my very favorite ambient musicians EVER, & I think that your music is WON-DER-FUL! (Besides, it takes a HUGE amount of talent to make all those blinky lights & reverb sounds work for ya')!

Anyway, the point is it doesn't take talent or a lot of money, just a lot of reverb. Take me for example... I just alike all the blinky lights and pretend I'm Cap'n Kirk half the time.

Uh-uh, Jesse,

No WAY are you going to get away with insinuating that you have no talent! You are one of my very favorite ambient musicians EVER, & I think that your music is WON-DER-FUL! (Besides, it takes a HUGE amount of talent to make all those blinky lights & reverb sounds work for ya')!

The Gizmotron was the creation of Lol Creme and Kevin Godley from the 70s art band, 10cc. After they split from 10cc, they did a pretty wild 3 LP project called "Consequences," that was supposed to spotlight the Gizmo, but ended up blowing a huge budget in the process. It's an entertaining album if you don't mind dialogue (Peter Cook does the voices), and even has Sarah Vaughn guesting on one track, "Lost Weekend."

I think the Gizmo is a little different from the ebow, in that there is more physical contact with the strings, but I never got to try one out.

The Gizmotron was the creation of Lol Creme and Kevin Godley from the 70s art band, 10cc. After they split from 10cc, they did a pretty wild 3 LP project called "Consequences," that was supposed to spotlight the Gizmo, but ended up blowing a huge budget in the process. It's an entertaining album if you don't mind dialogue (Peter Cook does the voices), and even has Sarah Vaughn guesting on one track, "Lost Weekend."

Yes I have that album, I found the first side of the first disc to be interesting but after that not so much. My guess is they blew their budget making the first 20 minutes and then made the rest of the album with the money they had left.

I think the Gizmo is a little different from the ebow, in that there is more physical contact with the strings, but I never got to try one out.

Its different in that it uses spinning balls of rosin to make the string vibrate but its trying to do the same thing as the ebow. It had one big disadvantage in that its has to be attached to the guitar to be used, unlike the ebow.

No recent full studio shots on my hard-drive now but here's a few images...

A shot I made to document some of my realtime Buddha Machineries manipulations earlier this year.(http://www.dreamstate.to/photos/misc/gear/buddha-machineries-3740.jpg)

and the sounds that resulted:http://www.dreamstate.to/audio/sidd.mp3 (http://www.dreamstate.to/audio/sidd.mp3) http://www.dreamstate.to/audio/kan.mp3 (http://www.dreamstate.to/audio/kan.mp3)

A shot of the controllers I'm using for live laptop performances. Recently a Kaoss Pad has replaced the small Doepfer.It all fits on a board on an X-stand with the laptop out-of-frame on the left.(http://www.dreamstate.to/photos/misc/gear/controllers_3743.jpg)

A shot of the corner of my small modular system taken when I was making an avatar for this forum. My favourite module and my favourite knob. ;D(http://www.dreamstate.to/photos/misc/gear/bode_3607.jpg)

Bode frequency shifter, now that is nice. 8) The Moog modular I learned synthesis on had one of those. So how big a modular system do you have? I use to own a model 15 but I sold it about 14 years ago. It paid for two months of fieldwork in Bali that year. ;D

Bode frequency shifter, now that is nice. 8) The Moog modular I learned synthesis on had one of those. So how big a modular system do you have? I use to own a model 15 but I sold it about 14 years ago. It paid for two months of fieldwork in Bali that year. ;D

Bali, even nicer. :) My system is just a modified model 15 with some additional Moog modules: the Bode FS, envelope follower, the dual trigger delay and a high pass & coupler (which I've rebuilt into one module) plus some Aries modules: dual LFO, VC phaser, S/H & noise plus some PAIA modules: 2 ADSRs, VCA, ring mod (surprisingly good),sequencer and a wizz-bang digital noise module I built from a Polyphony or Craig Anderton article long ago.It gets much less use these days, but can also be handy as an audio tool box of bits for other gear.The 921 osc. is an amazing slow LFO to patch here and there, as you'll probably remember.

I love all the studio shots. Great to see the variety of gear used by different people - whether it's a huge studio or a small one. :)

I'm revamping mine - moved some furniture out of my studio into the living room. We gave our big couch to my niece - so a chair that was in my studio and some furniture in our bedroom has moved out to the living room - it's like our house grew several feet... woo hooo!

Yep, Jesse is married, so I guess that's his wife's name. He always talks about "my wife" but I don't remember him ever telling me her name before. Or maybe he has more than one wife... or a wife and several mistresses?

First is what I started with in Dec 2005. Korg D16 was second hand and Keyboard borrowed from work.Early stuff on Umbra and Penumbra recorded on this extensive set up.(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/SerenFfordd/initialstudioDec2005.jpg)Second is current studio, though it has been relocated to a smaller room as we moved to a smaller house in a smaller street after taking this photo. Veils, Shadows recorded on this set up.(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/SerenFfordd/currentstudio3.jpg)

addition at Christmas was this:-(http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc98/SerenFfordd/korg_mr1.jpg)

The world of Oenyaw(http://a754.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/86/l_2711b875a38851f1b452950c773447c1.jpg)Detail of effects(http://a590.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/1/l_29f2e7fd5363345ce649a255aef55eb5.jpg)Instruments closer(http://a527.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/65/l_0206ad06e77730e3b913966891750a26.jpg)The recording device(http://a909.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/99/l_d5e1bc4ba2783b4e33b736731d0fac1c.jpg)

I've noticed a lot of people in this thread (and in past "gear shot" type threads) - not everyone, but many people have a tendency towards indian, native american, aboriginal, african, etc... types of decorations - whether it's rugs, blankets, wall hangings or artwork, masks, etc... Of course, quite a few drums tossed in as well which are both functional and ornamental... :)

I've noticed a lot of people in this thread (and in past "gear shot" type threads) - not everyone, but many people have a tendency towards indian, native american, aboriginal, african, etc... types of decorations - whether it's rugs, blankets, wall hangings or artwork, masks, etc... Of course, quite a few drums tossed in as well which are both functional and ornamental... :)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems to be basically an American sort of new age / native association thing ?I don't see it in European studio shots.

You might have a good point. Maybe it's more of an American (US) sort of thingy.

I also wonder if it's not really a new age type of thing - but a coincidental thing. My wife and I have a lot asian influenced decoration in our house, but we're not really 'new agey' in the spiritual sense - and her like of it has nothing to do with the music side of things.

I've noticed a lot of people in this thread (and in past "gear shot" type threads) - not everyone, but many people have a tendency towards indian, native american, aboriginal, african, etc... types of decorations

For the record the wall art in my studio consists of a sarong that was given to me as a gift for some performance I was in (can't remember which one now). A string of buddist prayer flags that a friend gave to me which I found wadded up in my closet last week so decided to put it to use. Two paintings I aquired in Bali, one of which was painted by a friend. A poster of a concert that Steve Roach and Robert Rich performed in Spain back in 1992 that Steve gave me. A concert poster of a gamelan performance I was in several years ago. And probably the most useless of them all, one MA degree in Ethnomusicology from some little known university called UCLA. ;D

I've noticed a lot of people in this thread (and in past "gear shot" type threads) - not everyone, but many people have a tendency towards indian, native american, aboriginal, african, etc... types of decorations - whether it's rugs, blankets, wall hangings or artwork, masks, etc... Of course, quite a few drums tossed in as well which are both functional and ornamental... :)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems to be basically an American sort of new age / native association thing ?I don't see it in European studio shots.

Second is current studio, though it has been relocated to a smaller room as we moved to a smaller house in a smaller street after taking this photo.

Ok, so what is the silver box on top of your rack? It looks like a TC Electronics box but I can't figure it out. Also, what make are your speakers?

That looks like a TC M3000 to me.

Yep - TC M3000 - got it at the end of their sale on the box - half price ;D ;D ;D well actually after the sale ended but the rep agreed to honour the original discount, lucky me as I had not got the money together before it ended.

The speakers are the JMLab Cobalt 816 - technically part of my hi-fi set up but in our previous move their was no where to put them in the living room due to window or radiator placement so they migrated to the studio along with the Technics gear under the table as main amplification source.

I've noticed a lot of people in this thread (and in past "gear shot" type threads) - not everyone, but many people have a tendency towards indian, native american, aboriginal, african, etc... types of decorations - whether it's rugs, blankets, wall hangings or artwork, masks, etc... Of course, quite a few drums tossed in as well which are both functional and ornamental... :)

Posting from Europe here.

Had my drum for a few years - made in South America. The faces on the wall were made by a friend of mine - the smaller one is Blodeuwydd, one of the celtic beings from the ancient myths who was made of flowers. The larger face is a representaion of Grandmother Earth, and she always looks like she is just about to open her eyes.

The other circular artistic objects I created myself and are based around the tree of life in celtic myth and my wonder at the Stars. The smallest one has a celtic knot at the bottom with a wild boar roaming under the oak trees.

I've always been interested in both ancient and other cultures, both for their spiritual beliefs (which like any others can be both positive and negative) and other ways of understanding the worlds around us (such as Irish moneylenders able to retrieve the debts in the borrowers and their own next lives, and some native American ceremonies not just held to affect,say, the buffalo hunt about to happen, but also the celebratory dance still affecting the outcome of the hunt after it finished)

Not into the new age argument - other than concern that western attitudes of dabbling and believing we can cherry pick parts of belief systems can lead people into dangerous areas.........

The world of Oenyaw(http://a754.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/86/l_2711b875a38851f1b452950c773447c1.jpg)Instruments closer(http://a527.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/65/l_0206ad06e77730e3b913966891750a26.jpg)

I just noticed this, what is in that odd shaped case in the background of these two photos? My guess would be a sitar or vina, am I close? :)

It's a sitar. I took lessons for 8 months. My dog Cleo loves it when I play, but I don't consider myself good enough on it to perform or record. I love the music although. Some day I'll get a Sarod, that's what I really want.

I am noticing a lot of instances of the Electrix Filter Factory....a personal fav, as well as the Alesis Mod FX. On the lower left is a tabla drum machine my friend got in India....super cool...kinda dopey.

Here's one from a long time ago...this was a set-up from a jam-session with a visiting friend so its not my normal way of things (thank god).

Things have been quite busy with me so it's been hard to keep up on the forums. I have been reading the forums when I get some freetime. I think I lost or misplaced my old ID when the upgrade occured so I created a new one. Thanks for the welcome back!

Good catch! They are 22" Widscreen monitors from Westinghouse. They would not be the best for gaming, but for audio and graphics, they work great! I bought some VESA pole mounts to attach them to the A frame. The monitors can rotate 360 degrees if I wish but for my purposes, they sit as they are.

Basically they are generic Mackie HR824's. For $300, they are a great deal!

Great deal because they have no development costs to consider so they can sell stuff super cheap, as all they do is rip off other companies designs. True story, about a year ago I was on their job forum, of the 20 or so jobs they were advertising at the time 3/4 of them I kid you not were for photo copying. ::)

Great deal because they have no development costs to consider so they can sell stuff super cheap, as all they do is rip off other companies designs.

I hear ya, but if they can get away with it and I can save a few bucks, I can't complain. There is something to say about quality though. Even though they rip others off, their overall product quality can't compare to the real stuff.

When you purchase software, let's say some DAW application that costs $1,000 or so, you don't expect to open the box and find any material object with a value close to $1,000 contained inside. It's apparent to most people when they're opening up the box that the contents will probably be just a few dollars or so worth of plastic discs and paper booklets. What you're paying for is the development of the application, programming and other overhead costs at the software company, plus their profit margin.

I would argue that in some cases, the same is true when you're buying certain physical products, which is that you're paying for design and development and testing. If I opened up the most expensive piece of audio gear I ever bought, I wouldn't expect to find any magical semiconductors or fairy dust or solid gold connectors. I'd expect to see a fairly normal circuit board, and better-than-average quality connectors and knobs, and a nice solid case, and that's it.

My big, heavy, solid Avalon compressor might feel like it's full of gold bullion and uranium, but I think they mainly just spent an extra couple bucks worth of aluminum for the case, and bought nice, big, solid knobs so it would give the impression that what was inside was really extraordinary.

I don't think they make a Mercenary edition of the 747 which is the one I have. I do like that black, though.

The thing that doesn't come through in the picture is that the front panel is 1/4" thick aluminum, and the part surrounding the VU meter is about an inch thick block of aluminum that sticks out in front. And they weigh a ton!

What they should've done to impress people is use steel instead of aluminum, because it weighs even more and costs less. Better yet, use lead or tungsten or something. Sell a 500 pound compressor!

I still can't understand why somebody so untech like me was drawn to this music so many years ago.I can barely turn on my computer and I've had a fax machine for two years and still can't get it to work.Oh,well guess I'll just have to go listen to Unity By J.J.

Nothing funny about your studio... looks really nice to me. I like your desk - I think I looked at some similar ones a few years ago when I needed to get a new desk - ended up getting something not specialized for music, but it worked out well enough.

That's a clean and efficient looking operation there Gemini. Best wishes to you for much joy in creation. What happened to Saul Stokes photos? I liked the gear and the artwork! Thanks for posting the photos people.Peace, Kirk

After extensive room calcs and adding in new 703 bass traps and new 703 broadband traps, I've managed to clean up enough of the mixing area of my studio 1st....this picture shows the new corner bass traps and the new broadband trap on the front wall. I'll keep the heavy tapestry on the front wall, because it helps with taming front wall reflections, just need to re-align it into the center of the mix position. What you can't see is the 2nd broadband panel directly behind the mix position, that helps with rear reflections. Ohhh, you also cannot see the absolute mess the rest of the studio is in either....After I did the room calcs and got my monitors and mix position out of all frequency nodes, I had to re-arrange everything...

The center of the monitors bass cone are 23" off the front wall and 43" off the floor..as well as positioned horizontally out of node positions form the side walls. The mix position is 67" off the front wall, with my ears aligned with the center of the bass cones. All these positions keep the mixing stage out of as many nodes and frequency harmonics as possible in order to improve mix quality.

"what the hell is he talking about" is probably what your saying..:)

This equates to a massively improved stereo field, and stereo separation, much better frequency response from the monitors, the monitors are not working as hard, and above all else greatly improved mixing and tracking. Mixes out of this new station are like night and day as compared to older mixes. Bad mixes really sound bad now, as I can hear all the frequency overlap issues, as well as bad stereo panning choices. Great mixes are much easier to attain and sitting at the mix station for 10-12 hours at a shot are very easy on the ears. Everything sound better!!!

Oh, crap... my monitors' base cones are only 21.9" off the front wall -- I am so screwed!

Seriously, thanks for posting this James.

:)

everyone's frequency nodes and frequency harmonics are different..it's all based on the room dimensions and such...so please EVERYONE do not simply set-up your stuff using my dims.....each room will come up with different calcs.....:) as well as different treatments to deal with specific frequencies within the room..."tuning a room" is pretty complex....this set-up took me about a month to layout properly..and in reality..I still need more broadband absorption on the side walls....you can never have too much..:)

Thanks for contributing, and bumping this topic up, Caul/Brett. This is one of my favorite topics on this Forum and I had forgotten about it! My studio looks exactly the same as in those pictures back on page 1, still.

Hi Brett.Left of the headphones is a Behringer BCR2000 midi control surface. So not a mixer. Its what I use with VST synths.The only mixer I use is the tiny one on the very corner of the other desk.I too have little use (or space) for larger mixers.

I was thinking of retiring that little mixer and getting one of the smaller Alesis mixers. It could be useful:http://alesis.com/multimix8usb20

Hi Brett.Left of the headphones is a Behringer BCR2000 midi control surface. So not a mixer. Its what I use with VST synths.The only mixer I use is the tiny one on the very corner of the other desk.I too have little use (or space) for larger mixers.

I was thinking of retiring that little mixer and getting one of the smaller Alesis mixers. It could be useful:http://alesis.com/multimix8usb20

APK

I've read about the BCR2000, I've been considering looking into something like that. I would ideally like something would be small, have phantom power, preferably firewire and would also be a control surface for logic. Thanks for the link, I'll take a look at the Alesis models.

the Kore unit I have has physical controls on it, unfortunately I can't use them for anything but Kore. I know people have complained to NI about this, maybe someday they'll change their mind.

I just finished revamping my studio, I moved it to a bigger room and also pulled the old mixer out of storage and have put it back in service. Other then that not much different except for the layout and location. So here is the latest version:

Loren, That Ursa Major unit looks particularly cool. I remember seeing a brochure for that many years ago, but never actually saw one in person. Also nice to see your vintage Emu gear. I still use my Emu sound modules, especially the Morpheus.

Loren, That Ursa Major unit looks particularly cool. I remember seeing a brochure for that many years ago, but never actually saw one in person. Also nice to see your vintage Emu gear. I still use my Emu sound modules, especially the Morpheus.

Thanks Forest. The Ursa Major is pretty cool, given its age. Yeah I still use all those Emu modules, even my Emax II sampler at times. The Morpheus I like, it kind of bookmarks the Wavestation in my mind, both good at making long evolving pads but in different ways. I still have to set up my keyboards and patch a few things here and there but its getting their.

I am an aspiring electronic musician.. and only use software right now. BUT. I don't like my desk I built (cosmetically and functionally) and I was curious if you had any thoughts on desk design, like how to make it "future proof".

I am a custom cabinet maker so its sort of fun to build stuff for myself, Its just at the moment i'm working with a couple controllers and a monitor/speakers... so the whole rack mount stuff is unnecessary.. just worried I will have to make ANOTHER one once I mature?

here is what i'm working with now.. except I ditched the black box holding my interface/controller/laptop and made single stands out of clear finished birch that can sit on the desk in front of me instead of to the side.

Thanks for the kind words. My brother in law is a cabinet maker so he made all of my furniture out of Alder laminated MDF, which helps resonances. For me my set up is future-proof only in that if I ever acquire more rack gear, he has the plans to make another side rack.

I didn't necessarily design my desk for unknown growth as much as what would accommodate my final goal. I knew what pieces I had, what I still want/needed and how many rack spaces they were etc and I designed around that.

I think in any situation you could do the same. If you see no need for rack gear then don't bother. If you could see your self with 4 spaces of rack gear in 2 years or 8 spaces in 4 years, and so on, decide now what that would take and build around the dream, but with one foot in reality. I see you already have some rack gear (looks like a powercore and presonus box maybe) so you could build a 4 space rack or a 6 space rack and get some blank panels which will look cool for now, but allow for growth.

In any situation a desk should accommodate two goals, one is sonics of the room whenever possible. In other words, proper angles of monitor speakers, placement of your video monitor, distance from the rear wall, your head and so on. The second goal should be ergonomics and work flow. Is everything in reach? Is it at the proper heights and distances for long periods of comfortable and productive sessions?

Jesse.....thats just too funny, never really been a fan of Bart, perhaps I missed something.....still, Ive been laughing all evening.

Anyway...Dude, your a short, hop, skip & a jump away from this. You do have the equipment, its just a few tweaks away. This setup reflects trying to adhere to the classic console style approach, substituting the Daw for the console . I have scaled the environment back so every thing is in arms reach, most of the action, so to speak, takes place between the Matrix 12, Rack & Virus TI, the Andromeda and Juno play some what of a supporting role. I don't use any soft synths...currently.

Its kind of emotional to lay out the evolution of a studio.....Lots of good memories, lots of good sounds I miss. Having setup the mastering side of things it complete ruined/spoiled me for everyday monitoring. I wish I could indulge in that kind of sound for the pleasure. I did find monitors that could deliver the accuracy for mixing and a sparkle of that sweet elixir sound audiophile speakers bring.....

Thanks for your remarks about my studio...... The room's no more the 15 ft square, maybe less, that is the present setup, not the mastering setup, that was much bigger. There's not a lot of equipment, just a few good pieces. I do miss the Serge Modular, it sat unused for quite a while and I end up traded it for the Matrix 12, of course now I have lots of ideas that I could really use it on.

Julio, is that a Furman AR-1215 ? How do you like it? I am looking at some power conditioning solutions as I have been experiencing lots of gear and transformer whoas so I am looking at a voltage regulator such as that one.

Yes Paul, its a Furman AR-1215.......Im very happy with it, it has brought a certain stability to my rack and It does a great job of regulating voltage. I experience fluctuation from 120v upwards of 125v, especially during the evening. Im also looking at Equitech balanced power to work in conjunction with the AR-1215. Still need to research more the benefits of balanced power and how it will improve things for me before I make that kind of investment.

Just for beer money I wrote down the current number of views this thread had received when I first posted on it in early december 2010......49,257, that in itself is a staggering amount. As of today its 50,233.....!

Finally took a few photos of my upgraded studio. I did a posting of my studio on this thread a couple of years ago, so go back and check them out if you want to compare. I didn't bother taking a new photo of my modular as it hasn't really changed since the last round of photos:

Hi everybody. I´m a long-time lurker on this terrific forum. Have been enjoying reading through posts of great advice and info, and thought it was about time i delurked. Hopefully I´ll be able to contribute to the forum with some good spirit at least :).

Thought a good way to introduce myself would be to post some pictures of my setup, so here they are. As you might notice, I´m a sucker for analog synths :)

Just for beer money I wrote down the current number of views this thread had received when I first posted on it in early december 2010......49,257, that in itself is a staggering amount. As of today its 50,233.....!

Looks like the old Helios mixer from 10cc's Strawberry Studios. I'm not sure what happened to that mixer, did you purchase it Immersion? ;) I thought this thread was about personal studios that we have and not general gear porn. ;D Here's another picture of it back in the day:

Hahahahahahahah! Yeah! It's for our dog... 14 yr old blind dachshund... has her bed, a pee pad, and some water. Big enough for her to walk around a bit. there's also a paper shredder next to the piano - essential to recording... ;-)

Some older photographs from a few years back of my studio emerged in a recent debate.....so I thought I would updated them.

New add ons....wood floor, on top of the Focal Twin Be monitors, an Iron Chef trophy, no not the tv show, a local thing that I won. Next to that a stain glass fairy my girlfriend made. On the left monitor, a rocket blower for blowing off dust from digital camera sensors with microphone windscreen on top and a little jar that I put my Chinese fortune cookie sayings in.

Very nice setup Julio. I too have a KK Audio desk, except mine is this gigantic thing with lots of room for rack gear. :o I'll try to get some pictures up. Too bad KK Audio went out of business, they made great studio furniture.

How do you like the Solaris compared to the A6 you had, or your Matrix 12? Right now I too have a Matrix 12, except it's not mine, I'm taking it in for repair for a friend.

Wonderful desk! Love how it keeps clutter out and all the gear right there easily accessible. I have the problem of desk on one end of the room - everything else... on the other end problem... hahahahaha.

Hi Loren.....would love to see some pictures of the desk. That is too bad KK Audio are gone.

The Solaris is quite amazing, firstly for its programability, as deep as the Matrix 12, though with more access. Each "module" and it does feel like programming a modular synth has its own dedicate lcd window with mod sources a button click away. Its complex yet straight forward. The A6 was complex and just odd to program

The sound is very unique. Its virtual analog oscillators sound very good as does the filters but for me having the addition of Waldorf Wavetables & Prophet VS waves under the same hood makes the programming that much interesting. In a way the sound of the Solaris does remind me of A6 which had a certain bite in a good way to the sound. I have heard it said that the Solaris has a Teutonic edge to its sound....it is bright if thats what is meant. It is made in Germany, though Design by John Bowen. Ive only had the synth a few months.....it took 10 months to make it, longer than usual but that was due to a delay from Fatar who made the actual keyboard.

The build quality is fantastic! Never touched a synth that felt like this. Bowen put the best he could find into the construction.

Software has a few issues though nothing serious.....there are only 150 made so far so R&D is still on going with the users being a part of that.

The Solaris is looking pretty ! I'd also like to know what you think of it.

Desk is certainly nice, though perhaps not as deep as I'd like ... I do tend to use some flat, desktop gear and controllers that need quite a bit of space.

And are those 3-way speakers really meant for near field monitoring? They look huge :)

Hi Anthony....the Focals are large but I think the wide angle made the whole room look bigger than it is which is 12ft x 11ft. I think Im at the limit in small room size for these monitors. Setup in the correct triangulation as they are with sonic reflections dealt with by the hanging treatments the monitors are just right. :) The actual sweet spot is about 2 ft back from the desk. They are designed for near to mid field.

Very nice setup Julio. I too have a KK Audio desk, except mine is this gigantic thing with lots of room for rack gear. :o I'll try to get some pictures up. Too bad KK Audio went out of business, they made great studio furniture.

How do you like the Solaris compared to the A6 you had, or your Matrix 12? Right now I too have a Matrix 12, except it's not mine, I'm taking it in for repair for a friend.

Loren... I would be grateful for any leads to a tech you may know when the time comes. I have a short list of names but no actual reassurance . My M12 is working just fine albeit form day to day it can be an M9 or M7 and back to a M12, though usually most things are stable......Thanks so much.

Loren... I would be grateful for any leads to a tech you may know when the time comes. I have a short list of names but no actual reassurance . My M12 is working just fine albeit form day to day it can be an M9 or M7 and back to a M12, though usually most things are stable......Thanks so much.

For what it's worth I took it to Advanced Musical Electronics: http://www.advancedmusical.com/ (http://www.advancedmusical.com/)

They have been around forever it seems. I remember back when I worked for Oberheim the owner Ruth use to come by at least once a week for parts and such, they always had a close relationship with Oberheim.

Here's my ridiculously over the top studio. Hmm, maybe I should change the name to that from now on. ;D Sorry about the picture quality, taken with my iphone and I don't feel like making anything better for now.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/lnerell/My%20studio/studio2014-1_zps80c25de1.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/lnerell/media/My%20studio/studio2014-1_zps80c25de1.jpg.html)Desk is by KK Audio, the keyboard is the Korg Oasys. Monitors are custom made with a Yamaha M85 amp attached.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/lnerell/My%20studio/studio2014-2_zps9b956957.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/lnerell/media/My%20studio/studio2014-2_zps9b956957.jpg.html)Keyboards here are Prophet VS and Korg Z1, box up in the left corner is an old Oberheim DSX sequencer.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/lnerell/My%20studio/studio2014-3_zps26f41cdc.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/lnerell/media/My%20studio/studio2014-3_zps26f41cdc.jpg.html)Here is my eurorack and Blacet modular, with Alesis AirFXs off to the right.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/lnerell/My%20studio/studio20145_zps2843ff82.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/lnerell/media/My%20studio/studio20145_zps2843ff82.jpg.html)Rack on left from top to bottom, TC Fireworks, MOTU 24i/o, Ursa Major Stargate 323, Sony R7. Rack on the right Presonus Central Station, MOTU 2408mkiii, TC Reverb 4000, Lexicon M300, MOTU 308. Below that are a T-Resonator and an Alesis Wedge.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/lnerell/My%20studio/studio2014-4_zps18689da5.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/lnerell/media/My%20studio/studio2014-4_zps18689da5.jpg.html)Left rack, Clava Nord Rack 2X, Roland XV-3080. Right rack, Oberheim OBMx, Emu Proteus 2000 which will soon be replaced with my Emu Morpheus now that it is working again.

Thats great the everything has been brought within reach more or less. The modular at one side and the VS & Z1 at the other. Also like the racks at desktop level are angled. The KK desk has consolidated your equipment in a very accessible way......thats what a good desk is for.

Actually I just went back in this thread to see your older studio setup.....nice evolution.

Also looked at the the traffic coming through this thread......91,606 today. 3 years ago I mention it was at 53k. As you suggested Loren it must be the link to Gearslutz you made. The question is how to make ambient music as popular as gear....no, bad idea ::)

They are made locally, called Exacta, hand made by a guy named Ken Goerres. I bought them off of Paul Haslinger when he upgraded to a bigger floor mount versions. Brian Lustmord also uses these monitors. They are by far the best monitors I have ever owned. They are two ways, I also have a Hafler sub that you can't see in these pictures which helps with the low end.

Actually that's an old picture from the early 1980s I found of the current studio I work in. And yes that is the actual Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet. Funny enough that space was my office up until today, I just moved into my new office. Too bad all that moog, Emu, and buchla modular goodness is long gone.

Here's a pan of the room showing everything:(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/lnerell/My%20studio/IMG_20160205_151409886_zpsqfl3uvyr.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/lnerell/media/My%20studio/IMG_20160205_151409886_zpsqfl3uvyr.jpg.html)

That is an Alesis airfx, I mostly use it live to give people something to watch instead of just me doing my email on a laptop. ;D I send it audio and then manipulate the sound with filters or other effects built into that device using the sensor on top. It has some theremin type settings but I never use them, the airsynth had more of that.

In that last photo my friend sat on a stool and used his phone to take a panoramic shot of the studio, that's what its all stretched out.

I can imagine the new OB synth will take its place soon ?

You mean in place of the P12? No way, I like it too much, it's different enough from all the other stuff I own that I find it useful. I might get a desktop OB6 and put it off to the side if they decide to make one.